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Licence to Kill (film)
Licence to Kill (released in the United States as License to Kill, but sold in the U.S. home video market with the British spelling) is the sixteenth film in the James Bond film series made by EON Productions. Released in the United Kingdom on 13 June, 1989, Licence to Kill is the fifth and last Bond film to be directed by John Glen, and the second and final film with Timothy Dalton portraying British Secret Service agent, Commander James Bond. It is also the final film to be produced by Albert R. Broccoli, who was unavailable for 1995's GoldenEye due to his declining health. Since Dr. No (1962) Broccoli is credited with producing, with the exception of Thunderball (1965), every official James Bond film. This was the first EON Productions James Bond film to use a title not derived from either an Ian Fleming novel or a short story. It does, however, contain elements and characters from Fleming's novel, Live and Let Die and the short story, "The Hildebrand Rarity" (from the For Your Eyes Only collection). This would be the last James Bond film to make direct use of Ian Fleming's concepts and characters until Die Another Day (2002). Reception Taking inflation into account Licence to Kill is the least financially successful James Bond film. Since its release many authors, fans, and critics have debated the reasoning for this. More often, Licence to Kill is blamed for its increase in violence over previous Bond outings. This led to a 15 rating in Britain and a PG-13 rating in the United States; the latter having been created in 1984 and gone through a major reclassification (along with PG) in 1989. Another reason often brought up is Timothy Dalton's dark portrayal of James Bond, although it is often acknowledged that his interpretation is closest to Ian Fleming's secret agent character. Additionally, Licence to Kill drastically breaks away from the "Bond formula" by having 007 become a rogue agent in an attempt to obtain revenge for the near-death of his good friend Felix Leiter. Due to this change, the film is often seen as having less humour than previous films, most notably Roger Moore's Bond films. Albert R. Broccoli has openly stated that he disliked the handling of the marketing and promotion for Licence to Kill, which was severely affected by a late title change. The original title for the film, Licence Revoked, had a large amount of promotional material already produced by artist Robert Peak. Peak's promotional work was based on Dalton's portrayal of Bond and was more dramatic and hard-edged in what many consider more akin to the style of artwork for Dirty Harry. The delay in producing corrected materials, this time created by Steven Chorney in a more traditional style, is said to have negatively affected the film especially in the United States. The reasoning for the name change is purported to have been the result of test screenings shown in the United States where the audience apparently misunderstood the word 'revoked' (supposedly thinking it referred to driving licences). It has been reported that there was some confusion with the British spelling of "Licen'c'''e", which in American English is spelled "Licen's'e". It is possible that due to this confusion the film was re-titled for the home video market in the United States with the British spelling, "''Licence to Kill", although some U.S. television networks display the title with its U.S. theatrical title. The marketing issues are said to have put a serious dent in the film's potential for box office success in the crucial US market. It was also in competition with several other movies in would prove to be one of the most successful summer blockbuster seasons in film history. Among the films competing with Bond were Batman, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Lethal Weapon 2, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Ghostbusters II, and Parenthood. As a direct result, Licence to Kill was the last Bond film to date to open in the summer. A third Dalton film Timothy Dalton was contracted to make three films as 007; the third, intended for release in 1991, was expected to be named The Property of a Lady. However due to legal wranglings over the ownership of the franchise, the series went on a six year hiatus until 1994. During that time, screenwriter Richard Maibaum had died, and Dalton exercised an option in his contract and resigned. Plot summary The story opens with Bond and his friend, DEA agent Felix Leiter (previously of the CIA), on their way to Leiter's wedding. Meanwhile, DEA agents spot drug lord Franz Sanchez flying into Cray Key, Florida, where he catches his mistress in bed with another man; in retaliation for her infidelity, he has his henchmen cut out the man's heart while he brutally whips his mistress. The DEA dispatches a helicopter to collect Leiter and Bond in an attempt to capture Sanchez as he tries to escape. The pair successfully capture Sanchez by pulling his plane out of the air with a Coast Guard helicopter and then parachute down to Leiter's wedding. Later that same day, DEA agent Killifer assists Sanchez in escaping federal custody, lured by Sanchez's promise of two million dollars for whoever aids him in escaping. On their honeymoon night, Leiter and his new wife, Della, are captured by Sanchez's lieutenant Dario and several of Sanchez's henchmen. In retaliation for Sanchez's capture and imprisonment, Leiter is bound and lowered into a shark tank; the shark bites off the lower half of one of his legs. After hearing the news of Sanchez's escape, Bond returns to Leiter's house to find Della in her wedding dress, dead (dialogue by Dario later in the film strongly implies she was raped before being killed). In the study, Bond finds Felix, maimed but still alive, bearing a note from Sanchez: "He disagreed with something that ate him." Apart from giving Felix a wife, this portion of the film is closely modeled on a previously unfilmed chapter of Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die novel, down to a furious James Bond who almost immediately sets out to hunt and kill those involved in his friends' torture and mutilation. Bond begins his revenge by killing Killifer, causing him to fall into the same tank with the shark which maimed Felix; he then ruins Sanchez's latest drug shipment and steals five million dollars from Sanchez to finance his exploits. Under pressure from the DEA to rein in his agent, M meets Bond in Key West's Hemingway House and orders him to an assignment in Istanbul, Turkey. Bond refuses, but M insists that Bond take the Turkey mission, claiming that Bond's vendetta could easily compromise the British government. Refusing to let the matter go, Bond subsequently resigns and M orders his resignation effective immediately, revoking his licence to kill. Bond then escapes MI6 custody and becomes a rogue agent, bereft of official backing (but later surreptitiously helped by MI6 armourer Q, who voluntarily joins Bond while pretending to be on leave). Bond journeys to the Latin American country of "The Republic of Isthmus" (closely based on real-life Panama), where he finds his way into Sanchez's employ at the cost of the lives of several Hong Kong narcotics agents and the MI6 agent in Isthmus. After joining with Sanchez, Bond (with the aid of CIA agent-pilot Pam Bouvier) carefully frames Krest, one of Sanchez's key lieutenants, making Krest appear disloyal to Sanchez. Sanchez punishes this perceived disloyalty by trapping Krest in a hyperbaric chamber and then suddenly depressurizing the chamber with a fire axe, causing Krest to (unrealistically) explode in bloody fashion; for Bond's perceived loyalty, Sanchez permits him into his inner circle of friends. Sanchez takes him to his base, where Bond learns that Sanchez's scientists can render cocaine chemically undetectable by dissolving it in gasoline, and then sell it—disguised as fuel—to Asian drug dealers. The buying and selling are conducted via the fundraising television programs of the fake American televangelist Professor Joe Butcher. The re-integration process will be available to those underworld clients who can pay Sanchez's price. With the aid of Agent Bouvier, Bond destroys Sanchez's processing plant; in the process, Bond kills Dario by feeding him into a massive cocaine grinder. As the processing plant explodes, Bond pursues Sanchez as he escapes with four tanker trucks filled with cocaine/gasoline. After destroying three of the trucks, Bond and Sanchez fight aboard the final remaining tanker, which ends up out of control and then rolls down a hillside. Although Sanchez has the upper hand by having Bond at the point of his machete, Bond pulls out a cigarette lighter; Leiter's gift to Bond for being the best man at their wedding and sets Sanchez afire. Sanchez, burning alive, stumbles into the wrecked tanker truck's cistern, causing its cocaine-gasoline to explode. Later, Bond and Q are attending a party at Sanchez's residence. Bond takes a telephone call from Felix, informing him that M is offering Bond his job back. Bond doesn't give Felix an answer, but instead pursues Agent Bouvier into the pool, where they kiss as the credits roll. Cast & characters Bond - Timothy Dalton - Profile.png|James Bond (Timothy Dalton)|link=James Bond (Timothy Dalton) Moneypenny - Caroline Bliss - Profile.png|Miss Moneypenny (Caroline Bliss)|link=Miss Moneypenny Robert brown.jpg|M (Robert Brown)|link=M Q (Desmond Llewelyn) - Profile.png|Q (Desmond Llewelyn)|link=Q Leiter (Hedison) Profile.png|Felix Leiter (David Hedison)|link=Felix Leiter Franz Sanchez - Profile.jpg|Franz Sanchez (Robert Davi)|link=Franz Sanchez Pam Bouvier.png|Pam Bouvier (Carey Lowell)|link=Pam Bouvier Lupe - Profile.png|Lupe Lamora (Talisa Soto)|link=Lupe Lamora Milton Krest Profile (2).png|Milton Krest (Anthony Zerbe)|link=Milton Krest Truman-Lodge - Profile.jpg|Truman-Lodge (Anthony Starke)|link=Truman-Lodge Heller Profile.png|Colonel Heller (Don Stroud)|link=Heller Killifer Profile.png|Ed Killifer (Everett McGill)|link=Ed Killifer Dario Profile.png|Dario (Benicio del Toro)|link=Dario Della Churchill - Profile.jpg|Della Churchill (Priscilla Barnes)|link=Della Churchill Perez Profile.png|Perez (Alejandro Bracho)|link=Perez Generic_Placeholder_-_Profile.jpg|Braun (Licence to Kill) (Guy De Saint Cyr)|link=Braun (Licence to Kill) Sharkey_-_Profile.jpg|Sharkey (Frank McRae)|link=Sharkey Generic_Placeholder_-_Profile.jpg|President Hector Lopez (Pedro Armendáriz Jr.)|link=Pedro Armendáriz Jr. Generic_Placeholder_-_Profile.jpg|Kwang (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa)|link=Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Crew *Directed by: John Glen *Produced by: Albert R. Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson, Barbara Broccoli *Written by: Michael G. Wilson, Richard Maibaum *Composed by: Michael Kamen *Production design by: Peter Lamont Michael G. Wilson was forced to finish the screenplay alone due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America which prevented Richard Maibaum from participating further. For Maibaum, this was his final James Bond script, later dying in 1991. Soundtrack See: Licence to Kill (soundtrack) Vehicles & gadgets *Dentonite Toothpaste; Plastic explosives disguised as ordinary toothpaste. The remote trigger is disguised as a packet of Lark cigarettes. *Signature Camera Gun; A camera that when assembled became a sniper rifle that only worked for Bond, due to a "optical palm reader" built into the grip. *Laser Polaroid Camera; When the flash is used on this camera, it shoots a laser. The pictures it takes are X-rays. *Exploding Alarm Clock; Q carries it with him to Isthmus, but it is not used. "Guaranteed never to wake up anyone who uses it." *Lincoln Continental Mark VII - Bond's rental car in Key West. *Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow - Much like Moonraker where Bond was a passenger in a Silver Wraith II, he is chauffeured around Isthmus City in a Rolls-Royce. Locations Film locations *Key West, Florida *London, U.K. *South America *Republic of Isthmus — Isthmus City (fictional) Shooting locations *Churubusco Studios — Mexico City *Mexico *Key West, Florida *United States Licence to Kill is the only James Bond film to date not to have used a film studio in the UK. Trivia *The story of Felix Leiter's shark attack was originally in the book Live and Let Die, although in the book Leiter, in addition to losing a leg, loses an arm. The tactic Sanchez uses for smuggling drugs into the United States also comes from Live and Let Die. *The film was due to be shown on ITV in the UK on March 13, 1996, but was cancelled after the Dunblane Massacre occurred that day. *James Bond is never shown in the film wearing a necktie, although he does wear a bow tie for a brief period. *The film featured a real, identifiable brand of cigarettes during one key sequence, which led to the studio requiring the addition of the United States Surgeon General warning regarding cigarette smoking to the closing credits. Smoking occurs in many Bond films, however this is the only film which featured the warning. The cigarette manufacturer in question paid a fee to have its brand featured, which sparked debate over the appropriateness of product placement in motion pictures. *The twisting roads in Mexico where the tanker scenes were shot, Rumorosa, were said to be haunted from frequent traffic deaths that had occurred there. The film crew experienced many unexplained accidents and ghostly phenomenon while there, such as trucks driving off by themselves in the night or sightings of ghosts. The final scare came when the still photographer was capturing images of the last tanker explosion. In one picture, a distinct fiery hand is seen coming out of the fireball. The hand was not seen on any of the rushes from the other cameras which further added to its ghastly nature. The making-of documentary on the 1999 DVD talks more about these strange happenings in Mexico. *Benicio Del Toro is the second Academy Award-winning actor to play a Bond villain (after Christopher Walken in A View to a Kill), although did not win his Oscar until 11 years after Licence to Kill. *References are made to Ernest Hemingway twice: the use of his home in the Florida Keys and when Bond hands in his resignation, he says "It's a Farewell to Arms." *The movie title and the alternate title is said by M when Bond is handing in his resignation: "Your License to Kill is revoked." *It is so far the only film to have the main Bond girl (Pam Bouvier) and the supporting Bond girl (Lupe Lamora) to survive in the film, appearing in the end. Novelisation See: Licence to Kill (novelisation) Comic book adaptation Licence to Kill was adapted as a graphic novel by writer-artist Mike Grell, who would go on to write several original James Bond comic books. The adaptation was published in both hardcover and paperback editions by Eclipse Comics in 1989. Videos Trailers Opening Title Sequence Clips __NOEDITSECTION__ External links * *[http://www.mgm.com/title_title.do?title_star=LICENCET MGM's official Licence to Kill website] Category:Eon Films Category:Timothy Dalton films